Drabbles, ficlets and oneshots, oh my!
by Alexavier
Summary: A collection of Avatar oneshots and drabbles, most of them shippy but some not. I'll be updating this continually and it may never be complete. I don't know yet how intense I'll get, so T for now. Zutara, Taang, Sukka, others. Enjoy!
1. Longing for Summer

**I own Avatar. Seriously, I do. **

… **(is so kidding)**

**A/N: I really like this concept. I'm going to do it for Taang and Zutara. **

Zuko hated winter. He hated the constant wet; he hated the snow, the rain, everything about it. He preferred summer: no school, the sun on your face, riding bikes to the store to get ice-cream cones. The only redeeming feature winter had to offer was fire-making. Somehow, sitting by a roaring fire never failed to subdue his doubts about winter. Every year he and his father prepared the huge bonfire-like blaze at the Beifong Christmas party, and every year people complimented him on how warm it was. When he was seven, this made his chest puff out in pride, but now, at thirteen, it got annoying. It almost made him hate winter a little more. He eyed the guests from behind his hot cocoa. One in particular caught his eye. A sulky blue-eyed girl standing in the corner, wearing possibly the frilliest dress he had ever seen and standing obliviously under the mistletoe. Grinning evilly, he made his way over to her, and thought to himself: _Maybe winter's not so bad after all._

A/N: Did you like it? Hate it? Want to either praise me or flame/amuse me? Do it now!! R&R


	2. Longing for Winter

I disclaim my rights to Avatar. Except Zuko. He's miiiiiine.

A/N: continuing the Zutara notion from previously…

Katara hated summer. She hated the sticky humidity of the air, the blistering nights, everything about it. She preferred winter: holiday baking, blizzards, snowball fights with friends. The only redeeming feature summer had was swimming. Somehow, relaxing in the cool water never failed to quell her doubts about summer. Every year she tried too early to get into the pool, and every year she had a cold while the others were swimming. This year, however, was different. This year she had forsaken the traditional late-May swim in favor of staying healthy, and it was this year she would finally make it to one of Zuko's legendary birthday pool-parties. Walking through the back yard gate, beach ball in hand, she surveyed the turnout. So far it was just Yue and Haru, both applying sunblock, another reason to hate summer. Looking to the left, she saw Zuko and Azula walking toward a table, snacks in hand. _Then again,_ she thought, eyeing a bare-chested Zuko in his swim trunks, _maybe summer's not so bad after all_.

A/N: Did you like it? Hate it? Want to either praise me or flame/amuse me? Do it now!! R&R


	3. Longing for Fall

**Here's me, disclaiming my rights to not only Avatar, but also the AU!!**

Toph hated spring. She hated the happy little animals, the "love" (teenage hormones) in the air, everything about it. She preferred fall: leaf piles, cool stones underfoot, and her parents finally getting off her back after a long summer of togetherness. The only good thing about spring was the way that she could feel the planet beginning to _live_. Every year as the earth awoke, she smelled the freshness, and every year it made the long summer months a little more bearable. That cure had worked for the past fifteen years of her life, but this spring was different. She didn't feel better just by smelling the flowers or feeling the new growth. _Maybe_, she mused, _I won't perk up this year at all. Maybe I'll just be gloomy 'til fall. _Beginning to feel depressed, Toph looked up from where she was sitting at the end of her driveway, waiting for Aang so they could walk to school. Looking in the direction in which he usually came, she saw him, blushing down the sidewalk with a just-picked bouquet of daffodils in hand. _But really_, she thought after taking this in, _who can stay gloomy in spring?_ Grinning, she ran down the sidewalk to greet Aang.

**A/N: okay, so much to go over. One: this little drabble series (Longing for…) was inspired by Irrel's AU. I'm absolutely in love with it, so I write about it. That's why Toph isn't blind and she and Aang walk to school together. Two: even though Toph isn't blind in the AU, I like to emphasize her other senses to make it seem more canon. Three: I'm pretty much positive that spring is actually associated with earthbenders, not fall, but I can't see Aang hating spring, nor Toph loving it. Four: The fact that the formats are similar for all of them is not laziness. I did that on purpose to show contrast. Five: I've had problems with each of these in turn, and it would really help if you guys had the time to critique them. Thanks so much!! R&R!!**

**-alexavier**


	4. Longing for Spring

**I disclaim all rights except that to ship. Taanger in the house!! **

Aang hated fall. He hated the death of nature, the beginning of school, everything about it. He preferred spring: the warm rain, planting his garden, watching his pets frolic. Really, the best thing about fall was Halloween. Dressing up in costumes and begging for sugar never failed to get him through the season. Every year he and the neighborhood crew got ready together and went around the houses, and every year they stayed at Zuko's house afterward, comparing candy and staying up until the scary movies they watched forced them into an uncomfortable slumber. This year, of course, was different. It was the first year without Zuko and his battered Blue Spirit costume, and it didn't quite feel the same. _We're starting to grow up_, Aang realized, _nothing will be the same anymore_. He was waiting in the living room of Katara's house with the rest of the guys while the girls got ready. After an eternity, the ladies exited. Katara was beautiful in a Painted Lady costume, complete with realistic red tattoos, but the boy's eye was really drawn to Toph. She was wearing a Blind Bandit costume, and had never looked more in her element. The girls walked out and posed for a second, then (amid catcalls) asked:

"Who's ready for CANDY!?"

The boys all cheered at this sentiment, and a grinning Katara skipped out the door, followed by the rest of the (slightly peeved, as they wanted grand entrances too) girl gang: Yue, going as Sailor Moon, Suki as Kyoshi, Azula as a devil, and Mai and Ty Lee as ballerinas (that was the last time Mai let Ty Lee pick the costumes). As the rest of the group rushed to the door, Aang hung back, waiting for Toph to get her candy bag. Blushing at the sight of her running down the hall to him, he thought to himself, _despite everything, I have a good feeling about this fall_. Falling in step beside Toph, he smiled even bigger.

**A/N: okay, this one is really long and in my opinion, the worst of all of them. However, it was the most fun to write. I put everything in there for a purpose, another reason it's so long: I couldn't delete anything!! Um, gardening, well, I just see him as having a garden. As for why Aang's favorite thing about fall is Halloween; if you haven't noticed, prior to this their favorite things correspond with their elements. Aside from temperature, there isn't much you can do with Air. So I picked something that matched his personality: a sugar spree!! It would be great if you could critique, please R&R!!**

**-alexavier**


	5. Day of Peace

**Okay, so now that the "Longing for…" arc is over, I'm moving on to other things!! However, I have quite a few other ideas for continuity ficlets, so don't be surprised if another few come out of me. As for now, enjoy this Thanksgiving-inspired oneshot.**

**About three years after the war, the Gaang is living together in the Fire Lord's palace. **

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"CUT IT _OUT_, ZUKO!!" 

Toph's petite face contorted with rage as she turned to chase the young Fire Lord away from the bowl she was stirring. He had sneaked his hand, quicker than the lightning he bent so easily, into the bowl, but had made one fatal mistake: his dough-laden finger had brushed ever so slightly against Toph's stirring hand. In any other case, she would have simply slugged him, hard, but this was the fifth time he had reached his hand in the bowl (well, the fifth time he had been caught, anyway). She was getting fed up, and now was the perfect time to expend some of her rage by chasing him around the kitchens. The rest of the teens looked at one another, amused, and there was much head shaking and eye-rolling amongst them.

"Zuko, shouldn't you be more focused on making your dish than stealing from everyone else's?" Suki called out after the laughing boy and enraged young woman. This only resulted in another bellow of laughter from Zuko and one of fury from Toph. After the chase had concluded (ending with Toph earthbending Zuko into the human equivalent of jelly), they all went back to their individual tasks. After about five minutes of working silently, Zuko spoke up.

"So, can someone explain to me why we're doing this, exactly?"

The rest of the group looked at him bemusedly.

"You're kidding, right?" Aang questioned him. "You really don't know what we're doing?"

"No. If I did, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?" Zuko asked sternly. He always got impatient when it came to Aang, probably left over from the days of being the Unquestionable Sifu Zuko. Sensing an impending confrontation, Katara stepped in the middle of the two men.

"We've got to remember that Zuko was raised in the fire nation, Aang. They stopped celebrating Danrizi when Fire Lord Sozin started the War." She turned her gaze on Zuko, then looked back at her stewing sea-prunes. With a sigh, she hopped up on the counter surrounding the royal kitchen.

"Well, it's as good a story as any to be telling today. My sea prunes are stewing, so I might as well be the one to tell it." Zuko and Aang turned back to their work and the others turned their ears toward Katara.

"Long ago, the spirits decided to create new life, and so the first people came to exist. The ancients lived together peaceably for hundreds of years, then began to migrate and live in different parts of the world. After many trials and wars, they discovered something unique to whichever group they lived with: the tribes of the poles found waterbending, the nation to the west learned firebending, the nomads of the mountains trained in airbending, and the great kingdom of the plains discovered earthbending. Rejoicing in these newfound powers, they experimented, tested just how far they could push their limits; until a careless accident left an earthbender dead. The outraged earth people declared a blood feud on all the other nations, desiring vengeance for the innocent kin they had lost. A terrible war ensued, and many were killed. After countless years of this senseless violence, the spirits held council to decide what should be done about their poor creations. After many days of this assembly, the wise ones decided that the nations could no longer live in peace without intervention, and needed guidance from the spirit world. A link must be formed. But this link must be human, as well, because to understand men, you must live with them. Finally, they knew what must be done: a being must be sent to the mortal world, and live there among the men of the world. He would have constant spirit attention, and would have peacekeeping abilities: specifically, the power to bend all elements. This would render him untouchable by those who may want him gone, who would prefer the world in its present chaos. Using all their seemingly endless energy, they combined a small piece of all the spirit's essence, and put it in the next child to be born in the mortal world. This heavy responsibility fell upon a newborn Airbending girl. As she grew, she mastered her element with exceptional speed, and was noted for her likeability and graciousness to all the people around her. Yet despite this, the ancient war weighed heavy on her heart. She felt that somehow, it was up to her to end it. In the year of her sixteenth spring, she was celebrating a successful crop planting with her village when she felt a wrenching pull, and fell unconscious. Worried, her mother and father took her to the temple, where she slept for many days as they prayed over her. The dawn that she awakened, she walked fearlessly from the sanctuary, and told her community of what she had been doing as she slept. She told them of the great spirits, and how they had taken her with them to tell her of the mission that had been set for her before she came into the world. She went on to tell them that her purpose here was to end the war, and to help her the spirits had trained her in the ways of all the benders. Incredulously, the village asked her what she meant. Smiling, the young woman bent all four elements in front of their very eyes. The people immediately bowed down to her in worship, but she told them not to. 'I am just as you are,' she said, 'But it is my duty to end this war.' Without another word, she set off on her way to the earth kingdom. It is said that the spirits themselves flew her there, for according to legend, she arrived with inhuman speed. Upon her entrance to the world beyond the peaceful nomads, she was shocked to find that no one could remember the reason for their fighting, only that it had been so from he beginning of time itself. Making her way to the Earth kingdom's leader, she demanded an end to the war. Outraged at the impertinence of the girl, he told his armies to take her down. The girl began to lift into the air, and her eyes glowed with an otherworldly light. The soldiers stood, unsure of what to do, when she spoke. 'Do not be frightened. I have come to end your suffering.' It was as if the spirits themselves were speaking through her. The leader of the earth kingdom called off his soldiers, and he himself bowed down before the glowing maid. 'The war,' he said, 'Is over.' The first avatar's name has been lost to the ages, but the day she ended the war has always been known as Danrizi, the day of peace. It is on this day that we come together and give thanks to the spirits for sending the Avatar to us." Katara glanced at Aang, smiling fondly. "And there is the story of Danrizi. We celebrated it when I was young, but as the war got worse, we had to stop."

The group looked at her, faces misty with memories of different variations of the same tale from around the earth.

"Wow," Zuko breathed, "I had no idea. We were never raised around stories of the avatar. We only had tales of fire nation victories to guide us through childhood." He stood there looking thoughtful, until Katara gave him a light swat on the arm.

"Well, mister deprived childhood, what did you make to bring to the Danrizi table?"

Flushing bright pink, he glanced furtively around at the creations the rest of the group had come up with.

"Um, well, before this, I've never really been in the kitchens," he began, "I mean, Azula and I came down here when we were kids, to steal snacks from the cook, but I never expressed any interest in what was going on. On big formal holidays like this, the food was on the table before I even got to it. I kind of accepted it as a fact of life. Then," he started to gesture animatedly, drawing the attention of the amateur chefs away from their cooking and to him, "Uncle and I were exiled, and the food came from the ship's galley. After that, we were on the run from my father, and we had to make do with nuts and berries and whatever I could steal. And when I did steal something, uncle prepared it." His motions got even more vigorous as he continued breathlessly. "And, well, the point is, I never learned how to cook. So I present you with… this." He finished lamely. He stepped aside from the workspace he had been given to reveal…_something. _Suki looked about ready to puke, Sokka was laughing with silent mirth, and Zuko silently flushing brighter and brighter until his scar matched his skin.

"Zuko, I don't know what it looks like, but it definitely doesn't smell like food." Toph declared bluntly.

It looked even worse. It seemed that he had gathered all the things in the kitchen that he thought tasted good, and combined them in a large bowl. As a topper, he sprinkled most of the fire nation's rarest spices on the mixture, and then broiled it with his firebending. The end result: an incredibly expensive mess. Sympathetically, Katara walked over to comfort him and maybe salvage some of the ingredients thrown in the bowl. By now howling with laughter, Aang and Sokka were leaning against each other, supporting the other in case of falling. Katara glared at them over her shoulder.

"You two had better get back to work if you want to eat tonight!!"

The grinning duo turned back to their work. After about ten minutes of trying to save at least the large slabs of meat Zuko had used, Katara gave up, and declared it a royal mess. Walking back over to her sea-prunes, she let out a large burst of (stomach-churning to all but her and Sokka) steam, and decided they were steamed enough to be edible (though Aang disagreed). Soon enough, the rest of the dishes were complete, and they prepared for the hike to the dining hall.

"Why are the servants not doing this?" Zuko grunted as he helped Suki with the large badger-boar she had been roasting all day. Sokka loked at him incredulously.

"You honestly wanted us to deprive them of being with their families, today of all days? Katara dismissed them."

Zuko's face constricted. "Don't forget, buffoon, I've never celebrated this holiday before. I don't get how big of a deal this is quite yet, and neither do the servants. They probably thought they were fired." A look of terror crossed his face as he turned to Katara fearfully.

"You didn't fire them, did you? I can't cook for us every night. I can't cook for us at all!!"

Katara stifled her laughter as she reassured him. Soon after his little outburst, they reached the grand dining hall and layed the long table with the labors of their day. A long night of talking, laughing, and dancing lay before them, but not once did they forget the miracle that the spirits had sent them; he was, after all, right in their midst.

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**A/N: wow, this is long. Anyway, I couldn't get this idea out of my head, and so decided to write this for Thanksgiving. Also, I am a terrible storyteller in real life, so it probably came out that way in this, and for that I apologize. The entire "day of peace" thing came from a (probably inaccurate) translation site that said riziday and danpeace in chinese. put em together and what have you got? DANRIZI/PEACE DAY!! my attempt at making this one nonshippy (although my favorite three ships were present) may have failed. I need critique, so please, be mean! It won't hurt my feelings. R&R!!**


	6. Love at First Sight

**Hay guyz, Alexavier here. I've had this concept in mind for a while now, and I quite loike it. just a sweet little sukka drabble to ease my maternal mind (it's currently working overtime, I've got babies on the brain!! xX;;**

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Love at first sight? Of course Suki believed in love at first sight. It had just taken her a little longer to believe than most people. She certainly hadn't believed in it when that sexist pig had come into her village and challenged her culture. She still didn't believe even when she kissed that same sexist pig. She believed even less when she had been a prisoner, waiting for the pig to come rescue her. By the time she was marrying the pig, she thought love at first sight was impossible, that true love like theirs had to be worked for. And when she bore the pig's first child, love at first sight was the last thing on her mind. However, when she looked into the sea green eyes of the child she had brought into being, she realized exactly what love at first sight meant. And that it was quite possibly one of the most real things in her universe. Of course Suki believed in love at first sight. It had just taken her a little longer to believe than most people.

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**Didja like it? I thought so. R&R, bitte (please)!!**


	7. For You

Disclaimer here. Not really happy with this, but ah well.

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She leaned back onto him, sighing contentedly. Her first day as a married woman had been faultless, and culminated in every girl's fantasy sunset beach picnic. They were sitting so close to the ocean, her element, that the cool water tickled her toes. Katara sighed as she leaned her head back on his shoulder, Zuko kissing her neck gently. The marvel of having such a wonderful husband was almost incomprehensible, and she quietly though to herself _Zuko, the Sun himself would set for you._

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Yeah, it's a splurge. Expect more of them. About halfway through this, I realized how similar this was to the Maikout scene, and, well, it's not. It was inspired by a song (specific lyric: the sun will set for you), and is about how she (and everyone else) loves him so much, they'll do anything for him… yus.

Extra credit!! Who knows why the sun is a he? Free drabble/oneshot for the first one to guess :3

I need critique. Be mean?? R&R

-alexavier


	8. Greatest Chef in the World

Again with the disclaimer!! Here's a child-of-taang drabble.

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Azi loved to watch her mother cook. Each step of the process was like watching an elegant dance, seeing her dip and twirl as she found the instruments and spices that she needed. Her performance was flawless, an exquisite jewel in the everyday life of the Avatar's house. A pinch of thyme thrown in the air to sample how well it would go with the chicken-pig in the stew, a rare pre-bite of dessert, feeling the dough of a tart for texture _just_ the way her father liked: these were the perks of sitting in the kitchen before mealtimes. The meals that came from the hands of the Blind Bandit were always delicious. Azi smiled, eyelids drooping lazily as the scent of a surely delicious dessert in the oven wafted to her. She did indeed love to watch her mother cook.

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Yep, I think Toph would be an excellent chef.

R&R, purlease.


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